Style: Belgian strong dark ale
Menu description: Strong hops, deep red color, mild fruits.
ABV: 7%
Tasting notes: The description isn’t kidding about strong hops! There’s a very hoppy taste, but absent the bitterness that usually accompanies it. Pretty good, but with a slightly odd aftertaste.
Rating: 3.25/5
Style: American pale ale
Menu description: Light grassy hops, sweet malts, touch of spice.
ABV: 6%
Tasting notes: I forgot to write this up the first time around, but that hasn’t stopped me from ordering it several times. It’s a really good, amber colored beer. You would think that in the 5 times I’ve had this, I would have written down some more substantial notes than this, but apparently, I was too drunk and/or dumb to do so.
Rating: 3/5
Style: American Imperial IPA.
Menu description: Hint of biscuits, citrus, touch of pine.
ABV: 9%
Tasting notes: Sweetish, yet with bitter after tones. It’s an IPA (more accurately a “double IPA,” whatever that is), so the bitterness isn’t unexpected. Not really anything special, but it’s not bad either. Typical, but with a name like that, you’ve gotta try it.
Rating: 3/5
Style: Red IPA
Menu description: Sweet malts, hint of caramel, some citrus.
ABV: 7%
Tasting notes: Good IPA, slightly more bitter than Sierra Nevada, but also with some faint sweet notes. Interesting red color.
Rating: 3/5
Style: Imperial IPA.
ABV: 8%
My thoughts: Mild hop scent. And that’s about the best I can say about it. It tastes like a chemical spill. I guess it has an aftertaste who knows make it stop I am going to drink this as fast as possible and forget it ever existed.
Rating: 0/5
Brewery website: Common Roots Brewing Company
Style: IPA.
ABV: 7.8%
My thoughts: Strong citrus scent. Interesting fruity flavor. It’s very sweet and the hop flavor is almost nonexistent. It’s very smooth and almost creamy. No indication of its ABV. The finish is clean and there’s an almost fresh taste to it, sort of like a fresh and juicy fruit salad. This is a fantastic beer!
Rating: 4.5/5
Brewery website: Captain Lawrence Brewing
Style: Berliner weiss sour.
ABV: 3.2%
My thoughts: First, let me say WTF at this ABV. Is this even beer? It certainly smells pretty fucking sour. Well, it’s mouth puckeringly sour. So… Yeah… There’s almost something sweet when you first sip it, but it’s gone so quick I am not sure if I’m imaging it. The rest is just the sour of a fruit that’s gone bad. Strong carbonation. It’s quite dry. The finish is, as one might expect, more sour, but at least it vanishes quickly. I white girl can’t even with this.
Rating: 1/5
Brewery website: Barrage Brewing Co.
Style: Baltic porter.
ABV: 10.1%
My thoughts: Moderate, almost cocoa scent. Nice flavor, notes of mild coffee with an undertone of chocolate and bourbon. More carbonation than I expected, but it plays nicely with the flavor. Full body, but not too rich. Somewhat creamy. Slight coffee bitter aftertaste that dissipates quickly.
Rating: 4.5/5
Brewery website: Sixpoint Brewery
Style: Porter.
ABV: 5.8%
My thoughts: Weird metallic scent. Weird metallic flavor too. Aside from that, there doesn’t seem to be any other flavor in here, certainly not any chocolate. It’s super watery and thin, which is just plain wrong for a porter. It’s also quite carbonated. The aftertaste is metallic as well, just like the rest of this apparently metal based beer. This is no good.
Rating: 2/5
Brewery website: Long Ireland Brewing
Bottle description: Deliciously rich and flavorful, this is a complex brew with an easy going taste. A happy contradiction in a bottle.
ABV: 5.5%
My thoughts: I drank this mofo right out of the bottle. I was in a trivia competition, you see, and losing quite badly. There was no time for glasses! That said, let’s move on to the beer itself. This ale had a very light hop aroma. There’s a mild tartness with a typical hoppy bite. It’s an average IPA that’s a little too bitter at the end for my taste. It’s highly carbonated and feels quite crisp. I wish there was more to say about this, given how much I liked their pumpkin ale, but this is unfortunately a pretty average beer.
Number of times I’ve had it: 1
Rating: 3/5
Location: A friend’s house
